Words from the achiever
“I do remember the first Dr. Doolittle book. He rescues circus animals and takes them back on his boat to Africa. And they have all these adventures and that made a deep impression, taking these animals back to Africa. And then, of course, the Tarzan books. There was no television when I was young, so it was the books. I, of course, fell in love with Tarzan. I was 11 years old, and you know little girls at 11 can passionately fall in love with fictional heroes. And then he goes and marries that other stupid Jane. I was really jealous. I know I’d have been a better mate for Tarzan myself, which I would’ve been. So that was really the time when I thought, “I will grow up, go to Africa, live with animals and write books about them.”
About the book
The classic children’s story of the doctor who could talk to the animals.
“For I longed always to sail away with those brave ships when they turned their backs on Puddleby Church and went creeping down the river again, across the wide, lonely marshes to the sea. I longed to go with them, out into the world to seek my fortune in foreign lands — Africa, India, China, and Peru!”